Wings of the Protector
by Rei Ronin
Summary: Admist the blue skies, a link from past to future... The sheltering wings of the protector. The flames of hatred scorch the skies, igniting Gaia's funeral pyre. Crossover with AC 04. From the man who brought you Blades and Love. (I know. Shameless plug.)
1. Welcome to Mobius

This is a work of fanfiction. I do not own the rights to either Neon Genesis Evangelion or ACECOMBAT 04: Shattered Skies. (A damn fine game, by the way.)

ADMIST THE BLUE SKIES, A LINK FROM PAST TO FUTURE,

 THE SHELTERING WINGS OF THE PROTECTOR….

THE FLAMES OF HATRED SCORCH THE SKIES, 

IGNITING GAIA'S FUNERAL PYRE.

Wings of the Protector

"Shinji! Hey man! What'd you get assigned to?" asked Touji Suzihara, Shinji's academy roommate.

Shinji tossed the papers on their room's desk disgustedly. "Some new dead-end squadron. They assigned me to an F-4 group! I'm stuck in a Phantom! They put me in the absolute worst carrier-based fighter ISAF has! And get this. The squadron won't even be together. They'll just use us to fill holes in the TO&E of the rest of the air force."

Touji winced. "That's rough, man. What's it called?"

Shinji kicked his bed. "Mobius Squadron. There isn't a single veteran in the bunch." He calmed. "What about you? You can't have done worse than I did."

"No, I actually got pretty lucky. I got placed in a Eurofighter squadron."

"You got a Typhoon? That's great, Touji!"

The other newly-graduated cadet looked at his feet. "Yeah, but I feel really bad, considering what you got. You're the better pilot."

Shinji shook his head. "I might be pissed about my assignment, but I can still feel happy for you. Who's your wingman?"

"Some guy named Kensuke Adia."

Shinji lay down on his bed. "I remember him. He could tell you the stats on any piece of military hardware the Erusians or ISAF has. Fair pilot."

"You?"

"You mean my wingman? Some girl named Rei Ayanami."

"Never heard of her."

"I know. It's strange. She's supposed to be in our class." Shinji put his dress uniform in the duffle that lay packed on his bed. "Dude, it was great being roomies with you."

"Same. I hope I see you again."

"With my stupid Mobius assignment, you just might." Shinji slung the duffle over his shoulder. "Good hunting, Touji."

"Good hunting, Shinji." Touji sighed as Shinji stepped out the door.

Shinji sat down in seat 4A of Istas Air's Flight 745 to North Point. It was nice of ISAF to shell out for first-class civilian tickets for the graduating cadets. Shinji made himself comfortable before a woman sat down next to him. She had shaggy, light-blue hair and very pale skin. Like Shinji, she was wearing a flight officer's undress uniform. He looked over at the girl. "Where are you going?"

"VF-213. I am part of the first detachment."

_213? That's… _"You mean Mobius squadron?"

"Yes." She turned to look at him. "And you?"

"I'm also part of Mobius. I'm Shinji Ikari."

"I am Rei Ayanami. I believe I am to be your wingman."

"Yes, that's what my orders said. Speaking of that, don't you think the orders were a little strange?"

"How so?"

"Well, making a squadron and never having it together is kind of weird, ne? Besides, why assign us permanent planes if we're going to be hole-fillers? Especially crap like F-4s."

"I do not know. I also fail to see the point in questioning the orders. One needs simply to follow them." She looked forward.

Shinji kept looking at her profile. "Wouldn't you rather know why you were doing something?"

"If I am told, I am told. If not, I will remain ignorant."

The rest of the flight passed in silence.

"Welcome to North Point. You must be the final Mobiuses," said a woman with short brown hair. "I'm Maya Ibuki, quartermaster for VF-213. Let's get you your gear and planes."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"No need to be formal, both of you. Just call me Maya."

After getting standard pilot gear… "Well, here's the tarmac."

Twelve rusted, banged-up, unloaded F-4 Phantom II's sat on the concrete.

Shinji groaned. "It's worse than I thought. We have to fly those things?"

Maya smiled conspiratorially. "So one might think."

The pilots looked at the brown-haired woman. "Please explain, ma'am."

"Actions speak louder than words, Mobius 2." The woman led them through the two lines of rusted junk piles to a hangar behind the relics. She opened the door and gave a theatrically sweep of her hand. "Pick and choose."

"Oh my god," were the words that escaped Shinji's mouth. Rei's too.

"Like `em?" asked Maya with a smile. "This hangar contains ten of every fighter or attacker ISAF fields. We used to have six AWACS in here too, but the others left with their detachments. So. What do you want?"

"I believe an F-22A Raptor is the best plane for my skills."

Maya winced. "Yeah…I should've mentioned that. The other pilots all chose the Raptors. We only were given ten of them. We don't have any of those left. Sorry."

"Unfortunate. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well, we do have a couple of planes that should be better."

"I was informed that the F-22A was ISAF's premier fighter."

"It is, as far as standard fighters go. We've got a couple of experimentals here. Hey, where's Mobius 1?"

"What is this?" asked Shinji quietly as he traced his fingers along the black painted wing tip of one of the planes. Almost in a trance, he walked towards the fuselage, his hand still on the edge of the wing, moving towards the tail of the fighter as he moved towards the wing root. (A/N: Yes, I know for standard wings that is impossible, bear with me.) The plane he was touching was painted matte black except for a few small areas of white, the ISAF crest, and a Mobius strip on the tail. It had two tails, two engines, and two missile bays. Sitting behind the cockpit were two canards, in the shape of an F-22's wings. The engines were obviously afterburner equipped, and they had articulated plates around the exhaust. Vectored thrust. But what was strangest about the plane was its wings. They were flipped exactly the opposite way for normal wings. Forward-swept wings. FSW, the most maneuverable fixed-wing design. Shinji looked at Maya. "I think I'll take this. What is it called?"

"The S-37A."

Hey ho! I just bought and beat AC04: SS three times. Great game, great stories. (Mobius 1 and Yellow 13.) As soon as I got it, the S-37A became _my _fighter. I rarely fly anything else. (Every once in a while I fool around with the ACTIVE, F-14, and F-22.) I seriously love this game, but it cuts into my fanfiction time like a mofo. I don't really like how Mobius 1 lack personality, so I decided to write a fanfic. Guess what? There isn't an Ace Combat section on FFN. Therefore, crossover! This was originally going to be with RK, but I like EVA. The little poem in the game was just to perfect for Shinji or Kenshin, so I used it. Sorry for any OOCness, but this is a different world, and fighter pilots have a certain 'spirit'.

By the way, Shinji is Mobius 1, Rei his wingman, Mobius 2, Asuka is Halo 10, and Touji is Viper 9. SkyEye will be revealed next chapter, along with the real deal on VF-213: Mobius, Rei's plane, and Mobius Detachment 1's first sortie. Please read and review, no matter what the review might be, excluding flames. I like an idea of what I'm doing wrong. And prepare for high-flying action in chapter 2 of Wings of the Protector: Sitting Duck.


	2. Sitting Duck

"The S-37A? I've never heard of it."

"Not surprising. It's an experimental that was fitted for combat. It was supposed to be Sukhoi's proof of concept for a supersonic, FSW, stealthy fighter. It worked perfectly, but the Erusians didn't want to spend the money on it after building Stonehenge and building their military up. The war hasn't been cheap either, and they are perfectly happy with the forces they have. Sukhoi came to ISAF, but they can't manufacture any more of these babies. You know what the Erusians did."

"Took over every last aircraft manufacturing plant, except for the few that are in ISAF-controlled territory."

"Right. Anyway, they think that they'll be able to build replacement parts and crank out SU-35s. Don't get shot down in this baby, you won't be getting another."

_Not gonna happen, _thought Shinji, strangely confident.

"So, Ayanami, what about you?"

Rei looked around the hangar for a few seconds before her eyes settled on a strange-looking F-15. "What is that?" she asked, pointing.

"Eh? Oh, that's the ACTIVE. It's an F-15E with better engines, limited vectored thrust, big manoeuvring canards, better avionics, and an active radar disruption system. The ordnance is better too."

"Another prototype, Ms. Ibuki?"

"More like a test bed for all those technologies I just rattled off."

Rei looked intrigued. "How does it perform?"

"Why don't you two try them out and find out?" asked a purple-haired woman as she walked from the single AWACS in the hangar. "Misato Katsuragi, callsign SkyEye. I'm your CO."

Shinji looked over from the S-37A's cockpit, which he had just climbed into. "Hi, I'm…"

"Shinji Ikari, Mobius 1. And Rei Ayanami, Mobius 2. I know all about your profiles."

"What?"

"You didn't think you got in here by chance, did you? Mobius Squadron is a special experiment. We're taking our most promising pilots and putting them into as many and as varied combat situations as possible." She said all of this with a big smile on her face.

"You are trying to create super-aces, correct, Ms. Katsuragi?" divined Rei.

"In essence. Oh yeah, one little thing. In Mobius, you are your first name, or your callsign, nothing else. So you two had better call me Misato or SkyEye. Now, how about a little test flight?"

"Sure."

"Oh, this thing is a dream to fly! What do you think of the ACTIVE, Mobius 2?"

"It is a surprisingly powerful and manoeuvrable craft, Mobius 1. I did not think it possible to achieve such performance with the F-15's airframe. I must admit though, I am somewhat jealous of your S-37A."

"She is a beaut, isn't she?

"Indeed. And your skills are quite…"

"SkyEye here. Sorry to interrupt, but we've got trouble! Six TU-86 Bears are closing in on Allenfort AFB with fighter escort. Our best projections are that they will bomb the city outside of Allenfort, then the base, and finally, right on to North Point. At the moment, our air defences are virtually at nil. Therefore, GHQ is a sitting duck. Halo 10 and Viper 9 are in the air at the moment. I'll vector them in to assist, but that's all I can give you. Kill the bombers. Everything else is just gravy. Intercept is heading 199, south-southwest."

"Roger. Mobius Flight breaking off to intercept." Rei's ACTIVE fell in on Shinji's right wing tip as he levelled out and ruddered over to heading 199. "On my mark, we book it for the bombers."

"Roger."

"Mark!"

The engines roared and the fighters shot across the sky, riding tongues of flame.

"Halo 10, Viper 9, this is Mobius 1. I am taking tactical command of the situation. Form up on me, Four Fingers Right," ordered Shinji as he and Rei cut off their afterburners. A Eurofighter and an F-22A joined the formation.

"Halo 10 here," proclaimed a haughty female voice, "What's the plan, Mobius 1?"

"Viper 9, Halo 10, you two are to shoot down the Bears while Mobius Flight take down the fighters. By the book."

"That's not doctrine."

"Yes it is, Halo 10, now can it! We're approaching the enemy formation. Break off and hit your targets." Shinji shoved his throttle for ward. "Mobius 1, engage!"

Rei was hardly a second behind him. "Mobius 2, engage."

_Jousting time, _thought Shinji as he streaked in at the rather pitiful fighter pair that was challenging him. A pair of F-5Es. He targeted the leader and let off a bit on the throttle. "Mobius 2, break and take your own targets. I've got these two." A quick glance in his right mirror revealed that Rei was following his order. Shinji focused his attention back on the two light fighters approaching him on a perfect reciprocal course.

LOCK!

Shinji pushed the thumb button on his stick, and sent one missile streaking away, before retargeting and pushing the button again. Both missiles flew straight and true, reaching their targets just two seconds before Shinji flew between the two gutted fuselages. (A/N: In real life, missiles are how they're supposed to be if they actually hit the target. i.e.: 'one shot, one kill'.)

The first missile had flow right into the Tiger's right air intake before exploding, ripping the tiny fighter in half. The other missile had slammed into the Erusian fighter right between the F-5E's dual guns, actually making it into the cockpit before going boom. No ejections there.

Rei launched a pair of AIM-120 multi-target missiles at the pair of Mig-21s that decided to 'menace' her. The advanced weapons performed as advertised, swatting the vintage fighters out of the sky.

Only two enemy fighters were left, a pair of F-15Cs.  "Mobius 2, assist the others. I'll take care of these two." Shinji rolled his plane and peeled off to take on the two air-superiority fighters. Shinji smiled evilly and switched his missiles over to his second bay. Shinji repeated his trick with the F-5Es. The F-15 pilots were obviously better, and would've dodged the missiles, had they not been QMAAMs. Shinji smirked and `burnered back towards the Bears. Those Eagles were as good as dead. QMAAMs weren't called 'death missiles' for nothing.

Shinji targeted the last turboprop and plugged a pair of AAMs into it, just to be sure. The warheads snapped off the bomber's swept-back wings, sending the big bomber falling towards the ground in three pieces. Shinji sighed and relaxed.

"MOBIUS 1, BANDIT ON YOUR TAIL! GET OUT OF THERE!"

Shinji immediately barrel-rolled his plane out of the line of fire. A pair of dumb-fired missiles, a hailstorm of 20mm slugs, and one full-throttle F-15C flew through the space he had occupied. Shinji completed the roll and laced the F-15 with copious 37mm cannon fire. The McDonald Douglas-made fighter went down in flames. "Thanks, Mobius 2."

"This is Allenfort. Got a visual on that downed attack force. Whose kills were those? Make sure to thank them!"

Well, that's chapter number two. Hope you like it, especially the action. By the way, burnered means to fly with afterburners engaged. I heard a military pilot my father knows use it once. And finally, a big thank you to my pre-reader, Ishagu.

So! Next time on Wings of the Protector: Shinji and Rei meet Halo 10 and Viper 9 and go to the bar with them to celebrate their victory. Alcohol loosens tongues and the pilots find out a little more about each other. How will this affect them? And what of the anti-military gang that hangs out in the bar. It's all coming up next on Wings of the Protector: Meetings, booze, brawls, and reasons!


	3. Fun in bars

Work of fanfiction

Shinji let out a great sigh as his engines spooled down. He had nearly bought it, too confident in the abilities of his QMAAMs. If Mobius 2 hadn't…Damn. It had been far too close. The scream from the quiet pilot, Shinji's hand twitching, his fighter spiraling out of the way, then back onto the enemy's tail…far too close. Shinji shook his head and shut down the Berkut's electronics before disconnecting his mask and cracking the canopy. The F-15's wreckage could have been his own. He really needed a drink.

He climbed down the ladder the ground crews had rolled up to be greeted by the three other pilots in the flight. A tech was also painting silhouettes on the nose. "Congratulations sir!" he said.

"Huh?"

"You made ace in one engagement! Great job!" Shinji stopped, one of his feet on a rung. Two F-5E Tigers, one F-15C Eagle, the Bear, and then the other Eagle. Five. He was an ace. In one engagement. Granted, the S-37A was vastly superior to what he had been going up against, but…five? He was an ace. Yes he was. Awesome.

He resumed climbing down the ladder, only to be caught in a bear hug by the other male pilot, and swung off the ladder. "Shin-man!"

When the other guy put him down, Shinji took a good look at his face. "Touji? How'd you get here?"

"Viper Squadron got destroyed."

"What? How?" 

"They got assigned a target in Stonehenge's range. I just got to North Point to head out to the carrier when it happened."

"Sorry, man."

"It's okay. I just got the same assignment as you."

"So did I," stated Halo 10, breaking up the reunion, "Asuka Soruy Langely. Now will you tell me why the hell you ignored standard procedure by sidelining the most capable fighter in ISAF's inventory when you went out charging for kills?"

Rei answered for Shinji. "The S-37A has a higher performance level than the F-22A. It also makes sense for an element to stick together. SOP."

"Bullshit. You just wanted those kills."

"So it seems, did you."

"Hold it, hold it," said Touji, waving his arms. "Shinji Ikari, Mobius 1, just made ace. That means we have to go to the bar and celebrate. No arguing, just drinking!"

Shinji smiled. Touji did always know what to say, even if it often got him slapped.

"So, what happened to you, Asuka?" asked Shinji, taking another swig of beer.

"Halo Squadron is a Raptor squadron," explained the woman.

"So?" he asked, tipsy newbie that he was.

She sighed. "Look, ISAF's number one fighter in the media is the F-22A, right?" She had taken the news that the S-37A was ISAF's best fighter quite well, considering. Shinji nodded. "So if there was a squadron of Raptors all bunched up, the Erusians would consider that to be a big target. And there aren't many -22 squadrons still active after Stonehenge. Frontline squadrons were smashed by that thing. So instead of painting a big bulls-eye on some highly capable fighters…"

"They have you fly around, keeping up morale." 

She nodded. "Yeah. I was real happy to get a -22 out of the Academy, but it's murder on your kill tally. I've got three, and two of them were from that mission. The other one was a Su-37, though." She drank a shot.

Touji chose that moment to come back with a snifter of brandy. "Sound like you really suck."

She punched him and they started bickering. Shinji chuckled and turned his attention to his blue-haired wingman. Rei was drinking a glass of red wine. "Why don't you drink something stronger?" he queried, puzzled.

"I dislike hangovers," she stoically replied.

Shinji looked at his Yebisu. "Good point."

"That is only your second."

"Another good point," allowed Shinji, taking another gulp. "Hey, Rei?"

"Yes Shinji?"

"Why did you join ISAFFC?"

She swirled the wine in her glass and took another sip. "I do not really know."

"If you don't want to talk about it…"

"No, I just never gave it much thought. When I was a little girl, my father always took me flying in his Piper Cub. I enjoyed it. I suppose I always wanted to fly."

"So why didn't you sign up for Istas Air?"

"There is a difference between flying a single-seater and a jumbo jet," she informed him with an amused smirk.

"That there is. So that's why?" he said, smiling back.

"Yes. And it lets me do something for others." She took a large drink. "What about you?"

"Hmm?" Shinji took another slug. "Oh, I guess it's just in my blood. The military, I mean."

Rei took another sip and motioned with the wineglass for him to continue. "Really?"

"Yeah. My grandfather was a submarine captain, and my father was a special-forces commander. I always thought my father was a cold bastard, but he took my mother's name, and every once in a while he was really nice. He was so proud when he heard I was going to the academy. Less proud when he heard it was the fighter academy, but I never could've become a spec-ops trooper or a nuc."

"What happened?"

"He was on the transport plane." Rei cocked her head to the side. "763," Shinji elaborated.

Rei's eyes widened and her mouth formed an 'oh'. Everyone in the Alliance of Independent States knew about Transport Flight 763. A flight of C-17 Globemaster III's, they had been Stonehenge's first military target. That was what had started the war.

"He had gotten some leave to go to my graduation." Shinji polished off his can. He motioned towards the wine bottle.

Rei nodded and poured him a glass. "Your mother?"

Shinji shook his head. "I don't know. Where we lived is behind enemy lines now." He took a sip of the wine, wincing at its taste, sharper than his Yebisu. "You?"

"My parents both died in a boating accident. Father would've hated it. He always told me that if he died in the air, it'd still feel like he was alive."

"I think I know what he meant."

"So do I. You feel more alive flying," said the azure-haired pilot, smiling.

"You don't talk like it in the cockpit," pointed out Shinji.

"We all have our mannerisms. Besides, someone has to keep com discipline." 

Shinji chuckled. "Pilots only talk imprecise. We fly tight."

She gave a happy sigh. "I know." 

Shinji stood up after gulping down the last of his wine. "Well, I'd better head back to the BOQ," he announced. 

Touji took enough time from his argument with Asuka about the finer points of the split-S and hitting on the cute barkeep to throw a quick: "See you tomorrow Shinji," over his shoulder. 

Rei also stood up. "I should go as well." When Shinji shot her a questioning look she elaborated. "Before these two get me into a drinking contest."

Shinji laughed his way out the door, his wingman in tow.

The cold night air slightly sobered Shinji up and remembered that he had forgot to thank Rei. "Hey, Mobius 2."

Rei realized with only a little confusion that he was talking to her. "What is it Shinji?" she asked, trying to steer him back to more informal names, not callsigns.

Shinji took the hint. "Yeah. Rei, thanks for today."

"What?"

"For warning me about that Eagle. I woulda bought it if you didn't call it."

"Hey, no big deal," said Rei, who Shinji now realized did not take alcohol well. Either that or she liked him and was letting down some of her shields. "It is my job as your wingman, and one that I do not mind. It is a nice back to watch, you…" she trailed off as she slumped unconscious into his arms. Or both. That was always a possibility. Had to always remember that.

Misato groggily scratched herself as she shambled to the door. Who could it be at this hour? She opened the door to see Shinji standing there with Rei's semiconscious form draped over his shoulder. "What the?"

"SkyEye, can we crash here tonight?" asked Shinji.

"Why?" asked the sleepy Misato.

"We didn't get apartments in the BOQ yet. Besides, I couldn't get a good answer out of her anyway."

"Yeah, sure. You two want the bed?" She ushered them in.

"Misato?!" asked Shinji incredulously.

"Sheesh, just kidding. Just be ready to go to briefing by noon."

"Huh?"

"We're going to secure North Point once and for all."

Meanwhile, back at the bar, Asuka and Touji were arguing over the use of stalling as a combat technique. For Touji's money, it was 'a dammed effective way to get one's nose towards the ground', to Asuka it was the most 'dumbassed move a person could pull'. Being pilots, their hands were flying all over the place as the made points.

Not a good thing when the bar you were in harbored a decent size anti-military gang. Nope, not good at all. You'd really think they'd respect the military that kept them out from under the Erusian thumb, but no, they just had to be shitheads and bitch about how peace would be much better. And then they had the nerve to point out the bombing raid as an example of why things were that way. Asuka took offense and decked the leader of the group.

"You…you bitch! We'll kill you."

"C'mon," taunted the red-head, "Give peace a chance." Snap. The 'pacifists' charged at the two pilots.

"Gandhi would be real proud of ya," quipped Touji as he rose out of his chair with a powerful punch, straight to the nose of his attacker. One down, seven to go. "Four kills for each, Halo 10!"

"Only if I don't get them first!" She gave her nearest assailant a hard elbow shot to the throat and spun around into a kick on the next one.

Touji smashed another one's head into the table. "With the way you fly? Not likely." He knocked another one flying into the bar and blocked a stool that the last one of 'his' set was swinging at him.

"Oh please. I'm a better pilot than you and if shooting down planes was this easy…" She kicked another one into submission. "I'd have more kills than that 'Yellow 13'. Kinda wish I could paint these guys on the nose of my Raptor."

Touji caught the thrust of the stool, spun it and dropped a hard elbow to the guy's neck. "You could tattoo them on your ugly face."

"Dumbass! I'm better looking than anyone you've seen in your pathetic little life!" She slammed the last guy's head down on her knee. He keeled over.

Note to all anti-military gangs. Numbers do not always mean strength. 

"Guess we taught them not to mess with ISAF pilots," Touji chuckled.

"Yeah. Now, look, I know it's a fast way to get your nose pointed at the ground, but if you start to rely on it, you'll do it near the ground, and…" Her 'plane-hand' smashed into her 'ground-hand' and crumpled up into a fist. "And boom!" Her fist flew apart into outstretched fingers.

"No, no, I meant as a surprise tactic in high-altitude dogfights."

"Ohhhh. I getcha. You know, you're not as dumb as you look."

"And you're not as bad of a pilot as you look."

"Since you don't see many beautiful girls like me as pilots, I'll take that as a compliment." She stepped closer to him.

"You'd better," he said, taking his step towards her. 

They kissed.

Ahh, alcohol and ACM. No better way to get two pilots to kiss. Great way to set up one hell of a hangover too.

   Ah. Done. Been awhile since I last updated this, but I came across it when I was browsing through my old files, looking for ideas. Figured it needed to be updated, so here it is. In case you're wondering why Rei passed out so quickly, she had already had a number of shots before switching to wine. Anyway, this isn't likely to be A/T but it is possible. Sorry for any OOC, but these are fighter pilots. Anyway, the next chapter will be full of aerial combat and some ground attack. All you Acecombat 04 fans know the name. So, until then, ja na. 


	4. Imminent Threat

Work Of Fanfiction!

Wings of the Protector

Imminent Threat.

"First of all," said Misato as Shinji, Rei, Asuka, and Touji sat down in the private briefing room, "Let me welcome you two informally to Mobius Squadron, Asuka, Touji." The two pilots nodded. "Now, let's get on with what we've got to do. ISAFHQ finally seems to have read Sun-Tzu's Art of War. Namely the passage: 'The best defense is a strong offense', or something like that. Seems that yesterday's raid was the eye-opener." She pushed a button on a remote she had in hand. A satellite picture of an airbase came up behind her. "This is Rigley AFB, and it _used _to be ours." Another click and the view zoomed in on a specific section of the tarmac.

"More Bears," breathed Shinji.

"Lots more," agreed Misato. "Rigley is filled with those things. It has become the proverbial knife to our throat. We're making a raid to break that blade. Rigley is of no value to us anymore, and even if it was, we don't have the troops to recapture it. You are to provide CAP for the raid. Make no mistake, we will be outnumbered. Our attacking force will be composed of six F-16Bs and two TNDs.  We were able to scrounge up four Mirage 2000s to help you in your mission. And Touji, the folks at Sukhoi, have been nice enough to convert a SU-35 into something approaching a SU-37 for your use. It's got the rear radar and vectored thrust, but the engines aren't as good, and the airframe is a little weaker."

Touji grinned. "Good. I never liked that Typhoon anyway."

Rei frowned. "What opposition are we facing?"

Misato sighed. "Ground defenses, not much. We haven't seen a single SAM emplacement, and only three flak guns. Lighter caliber triple-A, maybe eight sites, all manually operated. Not a big threat. But as for fighters, when they captured Rigley, they captured four F-4s and four F-5Es. We've also seen six Mig-21s parked on the ramp. That's the good news. The bad news is that they have a full squadron of Mig-29s, two F-15Cs, four SU-35s, and Yellow Squadron has been spotted in the general vicinity a couple of times."

"Fuck." It was amazing how even the tone was on that single word. The redhead shook her head. "And you're sending us and four Mirages up against that?"

"To be honest," said Misato, "I think this mission is a stupid risk. We should be striking this place with cruise missiles. But cruise missiles are for surgical strikes, and this base is supposed to be flattened. Sorry."

Shinji and the other stood up. "Let's get to it. SkyEye, get the AWACS in the air."

Shinji finished fastening on his new full-body G-suit. He checked his emergency radios and the .40 caliber H/K USP hanging under his left armpit. Not standard issue, but a hell of a lot better gun than the 9-mm Berretta that they gave you. Knife, shroud cutter, water bottles, flares.everything checked out. And weighed down. The emergency gear on his harness alone would be murder in a high-G turn, but it was a hell of a lot better than hitting the ground with nothing. Thankfully, most of the emergency gear was in the bag that hung under him after ejection. Shinji took his helmet out of his locker and tucked it in the crook of his arm. "Mobius 2, are you ready to go?"

Rei stood up and grabbed her helmet. "Ready."

Asuka checked that all the pins on her 'zero-zero' ejection seat were taken out. It wouldn't do to eat a missile and have your plane turn into your coffin, complete with free burial. She turned around and watched as he did his walk-around. Obviously, nothing was out of the ordinary, as he climbed up the ladder and settled himself in the seat.

Rei ran her hand along the AIM-9X Sidewinders mounted on the inboard pylon as she walked under the wing to her cockpit. The short-range missiles would be her main weapons in air combat. She looked over to see Shinji climbing into his fighter's cockpit.

Touji made himself familiar with his new cockpit. It seemed the boys down at Sukhoi were nice enough to arrange it to be not entirely unlike the EF's cockpit. He'd have to write them a nice 'thank you' note.

Shinji connected his mask to his fighter's O2 supply and brought the fighter alive around him. As he closed the canopy he looked over at Rei, flashing her a 'thumb's up' and a grin. He thought he saw her give a small smile. His hands locked the canopy and it was time. "Mobius 1, two lit and green."

"Mobius 2, two lit and green."

"Halo 10, ready to fly."

"Viper 9, let's get this show on the road!"

"Mobius Detachment 1, requesting clearance for take-off."

"Permission granted, Mobius Detachment. Good hunting!"

Four dissimilar high-performance fighters roared into the sky.

"SkyEye here. Mobius 1, you are in command of all air-superiority fighters. I am in command of overall operations. Thunder 1 is in charge of the air-to-ground side of this op. Flash Flight should be joining up with you any minute now." 

Shinji nodded and pressed his mask to his face. "Roger that, SkyEye. Mobius Detachment! When the Flashes join up with us, we break into wing pairs and spread to 1000 meters. Remember, the Flashes are flying Mirages, so most of the heavy lifting's going to be our job."

"Mobius 2, copy."

"Halo 10, copy."

"Viper 9, copy."

"Mobius 1, this is Flash 1. We're coming up on your eight-o'clock," said an obviously female voice. 

"Copy that, Flash 1. Break into wing pairs and spread to 1000 meters between pairs."

"Roger that, Mobius 1. Flashes, you heard the man!" The little arrowhead shaped fighters broke off from their diamond formation and moved apart. Asuka's element had already moved off, and Shinji didn't need to glance in his right mirror to know that Rei was glued to his four-o'clock.

Shinji was just fastening his mask when he got Misato's call. "Strike force is joining up with you, Mobius 1. Five minutes till feet dry. Entry into estimated danger zone, two minutes."

"Thunder 1 here. Nice to have you with us, Mobius 1. Keep those fighters off our backs, wouldja? Tempest Flight sends their thanks too." 

"Roger that. All CAP fighters, weapons free!" Shinji suited action to words, flipping all the toggles and finally the big, red 'MASTER ARM' switch. "Mobius 2, are you ready?"

"Affirmative."

"You get first crack at them with your 120's. After that, try and make sure they make sure I don't get shot down." Shinji loosened his grip on the HOTAS, then tightened it back up.

"Mobius 1, this is SkyEye. Bandits inbound. By the RCS's I'd make them to be our old fighters and the Fishbeds."

"Hell. Mobius 2, Halo 10, take the Phantoms and Tigers down with your AMRAAMs. Flash 1, do you think you guys can handle the Fishbeds?"

"No sweat, Mobius 1."

"Right. Fire!"

"Fox 1!" called Rei as her four AIM-120 active radar missiles kicked loose of their mounting rails and shot off at the Tigers.

"Fox 1!" Asuka's missiles arrowed in at the Phantoms. "You know it's unlikely that all of those will hit."

"Right. Flash Flight gets the ones that are left."

"Ahh," said Flash 1, "Kill board standing, up!"

"Splash two F-5Es," called out Rei.

"Splash three F-4s. Those things maneuver like cows of a greased hill." 

"Cow on a greased hill? Where'd you come up with that one, Halo 10?"

"Shut up, Viper 9."

"SkyEye here. Looks like Rigley is launching more bandits. Six of them. Can't tell you what they are."

"Thunder 1 here. I'm going to sow a little confusion in Rigley. Pickle!"

"Tempest 1. Substation destroyed. That ought to turn some lights off."

"Flash Flight, engage! We'll meet you when we're done here, Mobius 1."

"Roger. Mobius Flight, go to active radar." Shinji reached forward and flipped on his radar. Looks like the -15s and -35s."

"No joy, still no visual contact," called Touji.

"Tally ho!" exulted Asuka. "Bandits at 11 high!"

"I see `em," answered Shinji. "Mobius Element will take the SUs. Mobius 1, engage!"

"Mobius 2, engage!"  

Shinji only dimly heard Touji and Asuka's 'engage' calls as he and Rei kicked in afterburners and bounced the formation of SU-35s. The Erusian fighters scattered, perhaps not cleared to fire yet. No matter. Shinji brought his plane around in a gentle turn, dropping throttle, and lined up on one of the enemy fighters. He toggled for 'guns' and pulled the trigger. His Ghs-37 spat depleted uranium slugs into the poor Erusian fighter's right wing, very nearly ripping it off. The enemy pilot tried to break hard right, but the stress was too much and the wing flew apart. Shinji watched as the pilot vaulted to safety on a pillar of fire, riding his ejector seat to the 'silk elevator'. No more time to watch! He snap-rolled and hauled back on the stick, kicking in a little vectored thrust to flip him out of the way of the wingman's fire. Tracers ripped into the Sukhoi as Rei triggered a two-second burst from her M61A1. "Thanks, Mobius 2." Shinji switched over to standard missiles and brought his nose onto another Erusian, firing as soon as he got the tone in his headset. "Fox 2." The IR missile arrowed into the fighter broadside, the detonation snapping the -35's back. "Scratch two Erusians. Mobius 2, how you doing?" 

"Finishing this one now." Shinji turned his head to see the ACTIVE spitting tracers into the last enemy Sukhoi. The fighter exploded.

"Good, form up on me."

"Roger."

"Halo 10, how are you and Viper 9 doing?" asked Shinji.

"Fine and dandy. Heading towards Rigley."

"Flash 1 here. We cleaned up the last of the vintage fighters but we lost Flash 3. He ejected, but."

"Roger. Don't think about it now."

"Tempest 1, here, making our run. Looks like the Fulcrums are launching. We got two of them, but you'd better make your run soon, Thunders! Pickle!"  

"Roger. Mobius 1, we need some cover!"

"Got it. All CAP fighters, go to best speed. Get there yesterday." Shinji pushed his throttle forward, outboard, then forward again. Fuel sprayed directly into his exhaust, boosting his fighter to its maximum speed.

Two strange looking fighters streaked in over the control tower, shattering the glass with their sonic boom. As the controllers watched, stunned, a F-22A flew low over the tarmac, its cannon roaring. The line of slugs walked along the concrete and hit a fuel truck right next to one of the Bears. With a dull thump, the truck exploded into a fireball, breaking off the outboard two-thirds of the right wing.

"That was a nice fireball!" exulted Asuka as she shot away from the airfield 

Shinji looked at the inferno, then at the other bombers. "Tempest Flight, the bombers are being fueled. Aim for the fuel trucks."

"Roger that. These Fulcrums are pressing us pretty hard though. Can you get them off us?"

"Right." Shinji banked his fighter and arrowed in on the furball. It looked like the Tempests had taken another one down, but lost two of their two-seat Falcons. They needed to get the pressure off, and fast. Shinji smiled wolfishly and toggled over to his four QMAAMs. Fast it would be. His fighter's computer could only handle two missiles at once in the IR/AR/SARH mode that gave the best kill potential, but it would be well worth it. He targeted the nearest Fulcrum and launched the first, before retargeting and taking the second. "Fox 4!" He closed the missile bay to make sure he didn't fire more of the precious missiles. With Yellow Squadron spotted in the area, he might need them. Guns it would be till those missiles hit. 

"Fox 2!"

He glanced in the mirror just in time to see Rei launch a pair of -9Xs. The advanced Sidewinders shot in at the four-plane element that was menacing Tempest 1. He nodded and hit the afterburners.

"SkyEye here. Splash one Mig-29 Fulcrum, Mobius 1. Mobius 2, splash two. The QMAAM's still on the tail of the Fulcrum though."

"Copy that." Shinji got a beeping tone in his headset.

"Hard enemy radar spike. Splash second Fulcrum."

Shinji saw a contrail blossom under one of the Mig's wings. "SHIT!"

"Mobius 1!, Break! Missile, missile!"

"I see it, Mobius 2!" Shinji reefed his fighter over hard left and dove, popping chaff. This missile tried to follow, but its powerful engine was too much for it's tiny maneuvering wings, and it overshot the Berkut. _Bastard._ Shinji flipped over to his normal AAMs and swept around behind the Mig. "You're mine." As soon as he got the tone, the missile dropped off the rail and shot forward. "Fox 2!" The Fulcrums pilot was obviously very goon on his defensive flying as he popped four flares and broke hard right and upwards, dropping his throttles to idle. 

"The wingman's firing!" 

"Flash Flight, engage!"

"Nice to see you," gritted out Shinji as he dropped his throttle and pulled the hardest turn he could. He clenched all the muscles in his lower body. "Hooook," he forced out, trying to increase his G-tolerance. It and the full-body G-suit worked this time, letting him keep his consciousness as he broke out of the way of the Fulcrum's wingman's missiles. He punched the countermeasure button on the throttle five times, dropping five flares to further confuse the missiles. 

"Fox 2!"

Shinji flicked his eyes up to the right mirror to see one of the Mirages harassing the Fulcrum that had launched the missiles. "Thanks! Mobius 2, where are you?" He lined up an IR missile shot on a Fulcrum and pushed his joystick's thumb button, giving the Erusian pilot something to deal with. "Fox 2!"

"Engaged with a wingpair. I could use some help! Your nine-o'clock!"

"I'm coming!" Shinji banked hard left and locked another of his missiles onto the trailing Fulcrum. "When I tell you, dive hard for the ground, so this thing doesn't acquire you!"

"Roger."

Shinji closed the distance. "Now!" He fired the missile as the ACTIVE shot towards the ground. "Fox 2!"

"Mobius 1, good kill!"

"Huh?" Shinji watched the missile streak in at the Mig. "Oh, the other shot. Four missiles left." He switched to his Gsh-37. "Scratch one bandit!" he crowed as the missile hit the enemy fighter, blowing off its dual tails and ripping the rear of the engines apart. The pilot ejected. 

The other Fulcrum was following Rei's ACTIVE extremely well. An excellent pilot, outside of the fact that his SA was firmly stuffed in his lunchbox. As Rei wove in between hills, just 75 feet off the ground, `burners blazing, the Erusian stuck to her tail as if he was following rails, pulsing 32-mm cannon fire at her. Up until the point that Shinji's Berkut dove in on him, cannon spitting death. Shinji smirked as the fighter came apart under the hailstorm of 37-mm slugs. "Your tail's clean, Mobius 2."

"Thanks." Rei brought her fighter back up onto Shinji's wing. "That should be all the Mig-29s. I saw Viper Nine catch one."

"Tempest 2 here. I've taken over command of Tempest Flight. All AAA knocked out. Thunder Flight, make your run."

Shinji watched as the pair of TNDs swept in low over the airfield, dumping anti-runway and anti-personnel bomblets onto the tarmac. "Thunder 1 here, airfield neutralized. All objectives complete. Let's get out of here. Tempest Flight, form up on me. We're going home. RTB."

"SkyEye here. I've got incoming bogeys. Guessing on Typhoons. Most likely hostile. Looks like eight of them. Intercept them."

"Roger that. Flashes, how you doing?"

"Not to good. I just lost Flash 2, and Flash 4 is having engine troubles. I'm good though. Got a Sparrow left."

"Good. Fire it into the closest enemy fighter, then support H10 and V9."

"Roger. Anyone seen `em yet? I got a radar contact, but nothing else."

"No joy. They might be flying low."

"Contact is splitting. Taking the shot. Fox 1!"

"That's a kill! Splash one!"

"Tally-ho!" yelled Shinji, "Bandits at 11o'clock low! CAP, engage! Fox 2, Fox 2!" Missiles streaked out from the oncoming bandits, and the ISAF fighters fired back. The two sides broke from their formations, desperately evading missiles.

"Viper 9 here! I've taken a little damage, nothing major though."

"Halo 10. Missing a chunk of tail, but still flying."

"Flash 1. I'm clean."

"Mobius 2. Damage to port-side engine."

Shinji was still trying to evade the missiles the EF-2000s had lobbed at him. He used the vectored thrust to slew out of the way of the missiles, then chopped his throttle and fired off a huge spread of countermeasures, diving for the ground. The missiles all lost him. "Mobius 1, clean." He lined up a shot on another of the Typhoons. "Fox 2, bitch!" The missile leapt off the rails and slammed straight and true into the EF's wing. "Scratch one."

"That's three kills. Five more left."

"So let's kill `em! Fox 2!" yelled Asuka as she expended her last missile on the perfect tailpipe shot the Erusian pilot presented her with. "Four more."

Flash 1's Mirage twisted through the sky, locked in combat with one of the Typhoons. Proving the old adage: "It's not the crate, but the pilot who flies it," she planted her last two Sidewinders in the rather expensive fighter. "Winchester." Out of ammo. "Flash 1, disengaging. Three left. Oh fuck! Someone get this guy off me!" A Typhoon had latched onto her tail, trying for a gun kill. Someone really needed to teach the Erusians about SA. Touji ripped the fighter apart with 32-mm cannon fire as Asuka took care of the one on his tail.

"Winchester. Disengaging"

"Winchester. Disengaging."

"Mobius 2 here. I'm on the last one."

What happened next could only be attributed to an amazing Erusian pilot and the malfunction in the ACTIVE's canards. As Rei turned to get into lead pursuit, the ACTIVE's canards locked up for just a second, enough to unbalance her and let the Erusian pull around onto her tail. "Oh shit."

"Fox 4!" Shinji stuffed a QMAAM up the Typhoon's air intake, also dumping the last of his cannon shells into the fighter. "Scratch one! All hostiles destroyed. You okay, Rei?"

Rei let out a shuddering breath. "Yes, Shinji, I'm all right."

"Congratulations everyone. Head on home."

Hah! Done! Well, next on Wings of the Protector is a 'on the ground' interlude. You'll just have to wait to see what happens.


	5. Triangles Everywhere!

Work of Fanfiction

Shinji hurried across the tarmac to Rei's ACTIVE. Though she had shut the plane down and opened the canopy, she had not gotten out of her ejector seat. Shinji doffed his helmet and put it on the ground, going to work on extending the small ladder built into the plane.

It didn't take him long, and in no time at all he was standing on the uppermost rungs, one of his hands locked onto Rei's ejection seat to balance himself. The sight that greeted his eyes was shocking, to say the least. Rei was shaking so badly that she could not unhook herself from her harness, and her breathing was shuddery.

"Hey, Rei. You okay?" She turned her head to him and nodded shakily. "You're just fine, alright?" Shinji smiled and took her helmet off, revealing Rei's short, sweaty, azure locks. "C'mon, let's get you out of here." He reached down into the cockpit and started undoing her harness. "Sorry. I guess this is kinda humiliating, huh?"

She gave him a weak smile. "No," she said quietly, "Thank you."

He finished undoing the last connector and gave her gloved hand a squeeze. "What I'm here for. Wingmates cover each other, ground or air."

"Still, thank you."

"You're welcome, Rei."

---

Both Shinji and Rei were drinking red wine this time, rather isolated from the other pilots, who included Flash 1 and Tempest 2. The two Mobius pilots had actually gotten to the party late, as Shinji was adamant about waiting for Rei, while telling the others not to wait up. The incident with the canards had really shaken Rei, and it had taken her some time to get so she was feeling up to snuff. But they had finally gotten there. The other had the party in full swing, but instead of joining in, Shinji had suggested that they sit for a little bit, concerned for Rei.

Shinji watched her, concernedly, as she took a gulp of her wine. "You going to be alright, Rei?"

"Yes," she said in a depressed tone. She looked at the wineglass. "Perhaps I should have purchased a Yebisu."

Shinji put down his wineglass and placed a hand on Rei's shoulder. "Hey, cheer up. We'll probably never see that fault in the ACTIVE's canards again, and it wasn't any fault of your own. Besides, you made ace! Can't you at least give a little smile for that?"

_No, _thought Rei, _but I can for you._ The corners of her mouth tentatively turned up. At Shinji's broad smile, her mouth curved into a contented grin. "Sure."

"You should smile more, Rei. It looks good on you."

---

Tempest 2 took a huge slug of his beer. "So," he said to Touji, "What's up with your callsign? Viper Squadron was destroyed." He ran a hand through his sandy hair. "I should know."

Touji downed the last of his bottle and waved at the barkeep for another. "Yeah, I know. I was just about to transfer in when they got sent off on that mission. I'm Touji Suzuhara."

"Kensuke Aida," returned the other pilot. "You were supposed to be my wingman. Believe me, you got lucky, missing out on that mission."

"You survived Stonehenge?"

The sandy-haired pilot smirked. "But for the grace of an ejector seat and God go I. That was my first mission."

"That sucks."

"No kidding. Actually though I'm kinda glad I have a Falcon instead of a Typhoon. Never really liked the EF. Didn't feel right."

"I hear you. So, how'd you get out of Emuland?" 

"Overland." He leaned in, conspiratorially.  "And while I was going, I saw Yellow Squadron's base! It's on a highway outside a captured town." 

"No way! Did you see Thirteen?"

Kensuke nodded. "I'm pretty sure of it. To be honest, he creeped me out. Tall, slender guy, looked pretty young. Pale skin, weird voice, and he had a mop of gray hair. But what was really strange were his eyes."

"Eh?"

"Yeah, I'd never seen anything like them. They were blood-red."

"Whoa," said Touji, "That guy does sound freaky. But, you know, Mobius 2 had red eyes." He nodded towards where Shinji and Rei were talking.

Kensuke looked over his shoulder. "No, they weren't quite the same. His were a little darker, missing some shine." He looked back at Touji jerking his head back at the two Mobius pilots. "I bet Mobius 1 is going to find out if 2's hair really is blue soon."

"Shinji? No way." Touji shook his head and leaned back in his seat. "I was roomies with him at the Academy. No way will he let himself get that far that fast." He sighed and shook his head again. "He missed out on some really fine women cause of that too."

"I don't know, man," replied Kensuke, disbelievingly, "See how she's looking at him?"

"And how he's looking at her," returned Touji in kind. "No, I don't doubt that they will, just not so quickly."

"Right."

---

"So," crowed Asuka, throwing her arm around Flash 1, "Nice flying out there today!"

The Mirage pilot, a short, slight brunette, smiled. "You too. I'm Hikari, by the way, Hikari Horaki."

"Asuka Langley Soryu," said the redhead, "So, how's your kill tally?"

"Four," said Hikari, somewhat embarrassedly. "I'm not quite as good as you, huh?"

Asuka gave the brunette a big grin. "You just need a better plane, and some time to hit your stride in. Wonder if we could get you and Blonde-boy to join us?"

"I'd like that." Hikari took a sip of her beer. "Hey, how much do you know about your wingman?"

"His name's Touji Suzuhara, he's a pretty good pilot, knows Mobius 1 from the Academy, that's about it. Why?"

"Because," said Hikari, with a slightly dreamy look on her face, "I think I like the guy."

---

As Shinji and Rei got up to leave, Misato walked up to them. "Hey, nice job over Rigley, and I feel really bad about asking you two to do this, but can the two of you fly CAP for North Point tomorrow morning?" The two nodded. "Thanks a bunch. Shouldn't be too bad, just some normal flying about. Probably not even any combat." She grabbed a Yebisu off the bar's top. "Well, I'd better get to wasting myself."

---

The sun was just rising as Shinji and Rei walked out of the locker rooms and onto the tarmac. The whole airfield was bathed in a soft orange light, save for the hyper-elongated shadow that the few objects on the field cast. The ocean, visible from the airfield, lapped at the shore, a peaceful sound, seemingly out of place on the base, but so right for the moment.

Shinji gazed in wonder at the sight. "Wow…" He stood frozen.

Rei also was moved by the picturesque view across the tarmac, but soon turned her gaze to her fellow pilot. "Forgive me, Shinji." She grabbed him by the shoulders, and dragged him to her, uncaring of the g-suits they wore, the survival gear hooked all over them. All that mattered was bringing him close enough to her face to kiss him.

And kiss him she did. Her arms wrapped around his neck, holding his lips to her. She took everything she had ever felt, and poured it into this, her first kiss. Soon she was aware of Shinji's arms around her, and he was responding to her. His tongue sought entrance to her mouth, and she granted it willingly, lost in the ecstasy of Shinji's tongue against hers, gently mapping out her mouth. Rei would have gladly died of asphyxiation during that kiss, but it was not meant to be.

Very reluctantly, their lips parted as they stood there, locked in each other's embrace in front of the rising sun. Rei suddenly gasped and broke out of Shinji's arms, bending down to pick up her helmet. "Forgive me. I…I  just had to…If I'm not coming back…Forgive me. Farewell." She sounded like she was ready to cry.

Shinji's arms encircled her from behind. "There's nothing to forgive. And that had better not be a farewell kiss." He planted a gentle kiss on the back of her neck, the only exposed skin he could find. "Because I know I can't settle for just one of those, and I think we have some talking to do." Rei nodded. "Good. Now let's get in the air."

---

"Four? Thirteen wants to speak to you."

Yellow Four looked down with a kindly smile at the boy with the harmonica. "Thank you." At this time of the week, it could only mean one thing: an update from Intelligence, the only reason she even flew for the Erusians. She jumped down from the wing root of her Su-37 and walked towards the squadron command trailer, lacing her fingers through her reddish-brown hair. Thirteen stepped down from the trailer and they started walking along the runway. "So, what's it say?"

Thirteen grimaced. "That EOMI needs to be the subject of some serious purges. All that they could track down was that…" he glanced at the hardcopy printout, "'Shinji Ikari is a member of the ISAF military and is stationed at North Point.' That, word-for-word, is the information. The rest of this," he shook the six pages, "is them patting themselves on the back for finding this out. You want it?" He offered the pages to her.

"Please." She took the papers and clutched them to her chest.

Thirteen smiled. "I'll leave you alone now, but don't get too distracted. We can't have you dying before you get back together with Ikari, right? Ja na." He started to walk off back towards the tunnel and trailer.

"Right. Ja ne." She looked down at the papers. Shinji was in North Point! She could find him! And when the war was over, she could be with him again. Yellow Four traced the patched he had given her so long ago, the thing that moved from flight jacket to flight jacket. It had a blue-green background with a three-pronged fishing spear in silver and gold thread as its centerpiece: a trident.

I said I'd come back, Shinji. And I will, or my name's not Mana Kirishima!

A/N: Hoo boy! Yeah, I know it's been a while since I updated. Complain and I'll use the Berkut to bomb your house. Heh heh! Evil me. I just set up a couple of love triangles. A T/H/A and an S/R/M. Hope you enjoy them. I also hope you are happy with the fact that the whole EVA 'school gang' is here. Kaji will be showing up soon, for those of you who like him. I promise we'll have some air combat next time, as well as hopefully a little romance development. Well, ja na till then.

OH! Remember the trick I posted, about using rocket pods as guns? Turns out an IAF pilot actually did that in an A-4 Skyhawk, downing a Mig-17. It was the Skyhawk's first kill for the IAF. Don't believe me? 

Go to: w.iaf.org.il/Templates/HomePage/HomePage.aspx?lang=EN, then to the Aircraft & Armarments section, then to fighters, then 60's, then Skyhawk, then First Kill (under the picture). Add ww to the front of the address.  


End file.
